Waimea coach Matt Taba was right when he said anyone could win on any given day in the KIF. The Menehunes clamped down on the Kaua’i Red Raiders in the second half last week to get the 46-34 win, and
Waimea coach Matt Taba was right when he said anyone could win on any given day in the KIF.
The Menehunes clamped down on the Kaua’i Red Raiders in the second half last week to get the 46-34 win, and Kaua’i turned it around against the Warriors last Friday, edging the East-side team 68-61.
But no one gets the feeling the Menehunes will walk over the Warriors when they play tonight at Clem Gomes gym.
KIF basketball is at its most chaotic stage, thus far – a rock solid testament that infancy can only be stanched by time and practice. Even after an extensive six-game preseason, KIF teams are still playing sloppy, back-yard basketball.
Kaua’i barely made 20-percent of its shots against Waimea, and didn’t look much better against Kapa’a – the Warriors rushed every shot in the fourth to practically hand the Red Raiders their first win.
But when each team finds some fluidity, some sort of hierarchy might fall into place. Surely, today we will move one step closer to finding out who marshals that pecking order.
Look for Garrett Danner to get his head back into the game. Probably the most liquid gaurd in the league, Danner left the moves that worked in the first three quarters and fell apart in the final period. Sure, he was fouled on that three and didn’t get the call. In fact, he was fouled numerous times but was never rewarded at the line.
But that doesn’t mean you stop playing basketball.
Danner is explosive. He knows where everyone is on the court and, even better, he knows how to find them.
If he finds them tonight, Waimea may be in trouble.
Of course Danner has the daunting task of facing slippery gaurd Winnie Arios. Although he hasn’t hit many shots thus far, Arios can slither his way to open court and get high percentage opportunities. Once he starts hitting his buckets more consistently, the Menehunes will be complete.
They already have forwards Jordon Dizon and Austin Alquiza acheiving a solid frontcourt, and other smooth gaurds in Desmond Rodrigues and Darwin Tutop should round out an already solid backcourt.
Look down low for Warrior Seth Yamamoto to have a more complete game, tonight. The forward, who once notched 27 points at the Menehune Classic, got into early foul trouble against the Red Raiders and sat for a good portion of the game. He needs to play more minutes if the Warriors want to offset the Menehune forwards.
Also, guys like Lionel Ornellas, Dahson Gonzales and Ed Roessler, who each netted eight rebounds against Kaua’i, will need to continue pounding the boards if they want to disrupt Wiamea’s strong men.
*The Warriors (0-1) travel to Waimea (1-0) today. Tip-off for the Junior Varsity game will be 5:30 p.m., the Varsity will play no earlier than 20 minutes after the finale of the JV game.
